Politics
PIB: North’s Undevelopmental Stance
The Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) currently awaiting legislative assent in the hallowed chambers has become an enigma of sort. The reason is simple: from being one of the most democratic phenomenons ever thought of in Nigeria, it has become what is capable of disintegrating the most populous African nation.
Ridiculously, and ironically too, the root cause of the present imbroglio is encapsulated in what George Orwell meant when he said in the book, “Animal Farm” that “in a time of deceit, telling the truth is revolutionary.”
Interestingly, there is hardly any Nigerian, who disagrees, openly, that the country’s petroleum industry needs deliverance, in its entirety. The primary reason is that the industry is the backbone of the country. Therefore, if corruption thrives in it as much as have been variously alleged, the PIB couldn’t have come at a better time, even as many feel it is belated.
Obviously, this reasoning seems to be what guided proponents of the bill over a decade ago, prominent among which was Dr. Rilwanu Lukeman, former Minister of Petroleum Resources, who conceived the idea in 2000.
The PIB is based on the report of the Oil and Gas Reform Implementation Committee (OGIC) set up by the Federal Government in 2000 to carry out a comprehensive reform of the oil industry. The OGIC was charged with making recommendations for a far-reaching restructuring of the oil and gas industry. The committee was chaired by Lukman, who was then the Presidential Adviser on Petroleum and Energy.
According to Lukeman, the PIB constitutes a reform legislation designed to encapsulate the legislative and administrative instruments governing the petroleum industry in one omnibus legislation, establishing clear rules, procedures and institutions for the industry.
In a presentation at a stakeholders’ session in 2009, Lukman said: “The Nigeria Petroleum Industry Bill is a remarkable document, which contains most of the legal requirements that will apply to the petroleum industry in Nigeria.
“The PIB combines 16 different petroleum laws in a transparent and coherent document. This is the first time that such a large scale consolidation has happened anywhere in the world. Good governance is promoted through the removal of much of the confidentiality as well as creating transparency.
“Confidentiality encourages corruption. The best way to fight corruption is to remove confidentiality from all procedures, contracts and payments. Every Nigerian, including stakeholders, should have the right to know what is going on. The bill removes confidentiality on a scale not seen in the world before. Nigeria will move in one step from one of the most opaque petroleum nations in Africa, to one of the most open and transparent in the world.
“The texts of all licenses, leases and contracts and any of the changes to such documents will no longer be confidential. Payments to the government of Nigeria will be public information. All petroleum geological, geophysical, technical and (oil) well data will be accessible for all interested persons in a national data base.
“The proposed bill will result in a significant increase in transparency. From now on, petroleum prospecting licenses and petroleum mining leases can only be granted by the Minister through a truly competitive bid process. Such process will be open and accessible to all qualified companies.
“Every company involved in the upstream petroleum industry will be subject to the same system of rents, royalties and taxes, depending on whether they operate in the onshore, shallow or deep offshore or inland areas.
“This means it will not be possible under the bill to treat certain companies more favourably than others. Nigerians can only fully benefit from their petroleum resources, if there is a sound petroleum administration,” he said.
In spite of this anticipated Eldorado, major companies involved in oil and gas exploration and exploitation, mostly multinationals, were the first to pick holes in the bill. They kicked against the perceived contentious provisions in the bill, especially the fiscal terms, claiming that the benefits the government wants from operations are so high that if the bill is passed in its present state, they would be running their business at a loss.
Other issues in the bill that operators frown at include undue powers conferred on the Minister of Petroleum and some conditions attached to acreage leases to oil firms. These and other issues that border on downstream sector are what the Federal Government was trying to resolve before Northern lawmakers recently joined the fray.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Housing, Sen. Bukar Abba-Ibrahim (ANPP-Yobe) gave an insight into the North’s opposition to the PIB, saying it is lopsided. He said the clause in the PIB, which allots additional 10 per cent revenue for oil producing communities was unacceptable.
Abba-Ibrahim, a former Governor of Yobe State, said, “This issue of oil producing communities getting 10 per cent of whatever is gotten from oil in addition to all sources of revenue for the oil producing states which has now divided the country into two, with oil producing states having more than what they need and squandering the oil riches, and the non-oil producing state, which are more in number, hardly surviving, hardly paying salaries and hardly doing anything has to stop.”
The lawmaker continued that the North was also opposed to the PIB because of its failure to make provision for the exploitation of other minerals all over the country.
“We have over 800 million tones of limestone in Gulane, Fune and Guljimba local governments of Yobe, but as a state government, you cannot go and exploit, it has to be Federal Government.’’
He is, however, optimistic that the bill when passed would sanitise the Petroleum Industry and address the issue of corruption in the sector.
A critical analysis of Abba-Ibrahim’s statements reveals that when he said oil producing states where “having more than what they need”, he was inadvertently confirming that governments have always been squandering public funds. Such funds are meant for the development of the populace.
Obviously, if the populace were being developed, the government would not have been accused of squandering funds allocated for development. So, why is he and his Northern brothers against the development of primary recipients of hazards accruable from oil exploration, extraction and exploitation? What difference will it make to the communities when such fund is deposited in the national treasury?
Democracy has clearly been so misconstrued that people are often so blind with their own version of patriotism that they find it difficult to face reality. They thus forget that wrong is wrong, no matter who does it or says it.
The Northern stance is thus a quest for the status quo of squandering public fund to remain. It is another way of saying that it is wrong for the hitherto devastated oil producing communities to be developed.
The North should rather take a cue from the popular television presenter, Oprah Winfrey, who once said, “Challenges are gifts that force us to search for a new centre of gravity. Don’t fight them. Just find a new way to stand.”
Since they have confirmed that they are rich in limestone, for instance, the right thing to do to avoid the division of the country over benefits accruable to host communities of mineral resources is to exert such energies as they expend on fighting for oil proceeds on the Federal Government to commence exploration of alternative mineral resources in their various states through legislation.
With the exploration and exploitation of such mineral resources in their states, they will also get into the groove of enjoying the proceeds. To do otherwise will amount to repeating the same mistake made during the pre and post colonial era when educationally developed states were made to wait for the less developed ones to catch up. This is against the principle of democracy.
In addition, if they are truly concerned about the development of Nigeria, they should concern themselves more with coming up with laws that would check financial impropriety at all levels of governance. This is what the PIB seeks to do in the petroleum industry.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has begun deploying non-sensitive materials to the zones as it prepares for the 2027 general election.
Acting Chairman of the commission, Prof. Rhoda Gumus, disclosed this in Abuja, yesterday at a bench-marking meeting with a delegation of Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
“Right now, all non-sensitive materials are almost ready. In fact, today as we speak here, the non-sensitive materials have been lifted to some zones now,” Gumus said.
She said the commission had completed nine of its scheduled activities and was preparing for the next phase.
“We are preparing for the election next year and we have activities lined up. So far, we have been able to complete nine activities and we are still preparing for the next level of activities,” she said.
Gumus said the commission’s leadership had just concluded a tour of the country’s six zones to assess their level of preparedness.
“The purpose was to go round the zones to see how prepared we are, assess what the zones have put in place, their challenges and what to do. We concluded last week and we can see from our tour that we are really going towards the election proper,” she said.
On Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), the acting chairman said production had been completed and distribution to the states was well advanced.
“As of today, we can say that PVCs have been produced and the first, second batches, most of the states have received them. Their PVC collection is ongoing. All those who are supposed to be the voters are supposed to receive their PVCs, and if they don’t have them, it is also another challenge,” Gumus said.
She added that capacity building was under way for staff at the headquarters and in the states, and that the procurement and deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System BVAS devices were also ongoing.
On diaspora voting, Gumus said the commission could not proceed for now because the law did not provide for it.
“Here, because we go by the law, in our electoral law, it is not included there, so we cannot go on for the diaspora voting for now until we amend the electoral law,” she said.
The acting chairman said the commission had arranged for its directors to hold an interactive session with the Kenyan team and present papers on the work of their departments.
Leading the delegation, the Kenyan High Commissioner to Nigeria, Isaac Parashina, said the IEBC team was in Nigeria to benchmark ahead of Kenya’s general election in August 2027.
He said the team was studying how Nigeria handled its diaspora population and special voting groups, as Kenya sought to widen voting rights for citizens living abroad.
“Currently we have about 12 of them who voted in the last general election, but there is intention to expand to around, I think, 26,” Parashina said, referring to the countries where Kenyans abroad vote.
He said the expansion was a constitutional requirement backed by Kenyan court rulings, and would be enforced progressively.
Parashina said Nigeria’s election, which he noted would come in two rounds, would be closely watched across Africa.
“Everyone is looking at what Nigeria will do because it is the biggest democracy in Africa. The success of Nigeria remains a great success to Kenya and indeed to the continent,” he added.
The High Commissioner thanked INEC for receiving the team despite a tight schedule and wished the commission success.
Governor Douye Diri has set a target of at least one million votes for President Bola Tinubu in Bayelsa State in the 2027 presidential election, while charging the newly inaugurated All Progressives Congress (APC) State Campaign Council to prioritise reconciliation, party unity and collective electoral mobilisation.
Governor Diri gave the charge at the inauguration of the 20-member campaign council at the APC secretariat in Yenagoa, where he warned that internal divisions could undermine the party’s efforts to secure victory for President Tinubu and other candidates at the federal and state levels.
Governor Diri urged party members who were not appointed to the council to support its activities by taking the APC’s message to communities, wards and polling units across the state.
He specifically charged the campaign team to mobilise at least one million votes for President Tinubu, arguing that Bayelsa’s voting strength had increased and should be reflected in the 2027 election results.
“I give you a target that in Bayelsa, we must not bring less than one million votes for Mr President. You are going to campaign, and you have a lot to talk about the President. He has done so much for our people,” the governor said.
He listed the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, the second phase of the Nembe-Brass Road, interventions in the power sector, federal appointments for Bayelsa indigenes and the establishment of the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy among the achievements the campaign should present to voters.
The governor particularly praised President Tinubu for the coastal highway project, arguing that it reflected federal attention to the development needs of coastal communities.
“No president, alive or dead, has remembered the coastal people and coastal states to say let us do this signature project from Lagos to Calabar. The first president to think about it is Bola Tinubu, and those were the demands of the Ijaw people,” he said.
Governor Diri also expressed hope that a second term for President Tinubu would provide an opportunity to advance demands for fiscal federalism, greater resource control and state policing, which he described as longstanding aspirations of the Niger Delta.
He said the President had shown indications of addressing some of the demands of younger Nigerians and argued that re-election would allow the administration to consolidate its reforms.
The governor further cautioned campaigners against personal attacks and abusive exchanges with political opponents, insisting that the APC should focus its campaign on issues, policies and achievements.
The governor’s mobilisation directive comes amid criticism from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which has questioned his commitment to President Tinubu’s re-election campaign, alleging that APC campaign billboards erected across Yenagoa promote other party candidates without featuring the President.
The PDP, through its Publicity Secretary, Mr Ikaebimo Mark, said the billboards showed Governor Diri urging voters to support APC candidates for the National Assembly and State House of Assembly elections without identifying President Tinubu as the party’s presidential candidate.
Mr Mark described the omission as an indication that the governor was not fully aligned with the APC’s national leadership.
“When we said that the governor, Senator Douye Diri, is not supporting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, we knew exactly what we were saying. Now Governor Douye Diri has erected APC campaign billboards across Bayelsa State without Tinubu’s picture. He is even afraid to associate himself with the photograph of the presidential candidate of his own party. How can this governor claim to be supporting President Tinubu?” he said.
The PDP, however, maintained that the governor’s public campaign posture raised questions about his commitment to the President’s re-election bid. Its allegation over the billboards now places the issue of the relationship between the state APC leadership and the party’s national campaign among the political questions likely to feature in Bayelsa’s preparations for 2027.
The PDP’s allegation has introduced a fresh political dimension to the APC’s preparations in Bayelsa, even as Governor Diri publicly called on party leaders and members to close ranks and mobilise support for all its candidates.
“Every person picked as a member of this campaign council was carefully scrutinised. I want to tell you that our campaign team is loaded. We parade the best candidates among all the parties in Bayelsa State, and there is no doubt about that,” he said.
He urged members to remain focused and united, warning that political opponents could exploit any divisions within the party.
“Our unity is very important because they would want to feast on our disunity. We will not give them that opportunity. Please, as you carry out this assignment, do not take your eyes off the target,” Hon. Ogoriba said.
SP Edafe explained that during the meeting, the organisers were briefed on the identified security threats and advised against embarking on an open-road procession.
Instead, the police reportedly recommended that the political activities be conducted at a designated venue where adequate security arrangements could be provided.
However, the Command alleged that the organisers disregarded the security advice and proceeded with the road procession.
Meanwhile, the Delta State Government has condemned the political violence that erupted in Asaba, the state capital, on Saturday, confirming that one person was killed while four others sustained serious injuries.
The government described the incident as unfortunate and unacceptable, warning political parties and their supporters against actions capable of threatening public peace, security and democratic participation in the state.
In a statement issued by the Commissioner for Works (Rural Roads) and Public Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu, the government reiterated its zero tolerance for political violence, intimidation and other forms of political misconduct.
Mr Aniagwu said the government had repeatedly cautioned political parties against engaging in activities capable of disrupting the peace, insisting that the incident could have been avoided if the organisers had followed security advice.
According to him, the police had advised the organisers to cancel the proposed street march and instead conduct their political campaign at a designated venue where adequate security arrangements could be provided.
He expressed concern that the advice was allegedly disregarded, resulting in a confrontation that claimed one life and left four other people seriously injured.
The government subsequently called on the police to conduct a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the violence and ensure that anyone found culpable is brought to justice.
Mr Aniagwu further warned that the state government would not tolerate politically motivated attacks against any individual, regardless of political affiliation.
He maintained that Delta State remained safe for residents and visitors, stressing that the government would not allow the actions of individuals or groups to undermine the prevailing peace and security in the state.
The government also urged political parties, their leaders and supporters to conduct their political activities within the confines of the law and demonstrate respect for human life, public order and the rights of other citizens.
The latest development follows an attack on supporters of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) during a political procession in Asaba, which reportedly left several participants injured and campaign vehicles vandalised.
The government’s condemnation comes amid growing concerns over political violence and the safety of opposition supporters as political activities intensify ahead of the 2027 general elections.
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